Metal

I’ve played all the Metal Gears (except for the real Japanese sequel), and I say I have pretty good grasp of the franchise. I know the major plots from the past (Gray Fox, Big Boss) and present (Shadow Moses Island, Virtuous Mission) but sometimes I forget the details.

That’s when you need to look up FAQs or catch-me-up guides. I swear Metal Gear is the one of the few franchises where you have to read layers and layers of information to understand the mythology. This is where the Metal Gear 4 Database helps out.

It’s a great resource if you’re just getting into the series or if you haven’t played a Metal Gear game in a while. It has all the information you need to know and blacks out any possible spoilers. (How convenient!) I’m tearing through the game right now and I need to know what was up with Liquid’s arm or find out who was that buxom triple agent.

It even files the game’s mythology according to relationships, timelines and categories. The interface isn’t that bad either, very easy to use.

It’s good idea to download the program. It’s available free on the PlayStation Store and at 77MB it doesn’t take that long to download.

I have no idea what context this conversation is in, but it’s pretty funny. Switching discs? Ha. This could be another sign that Metal Gear Solid 4 may not make it to the Xbox 360 but then again there are those rumors.

One piece of swag from the Konami event was this Metal Gear Solid 4 Bluetooth headset. I finally got around to opening it up today. I found two earpieces. Woohoo. Unfortunately, there was no USB cord to charge them. D’oh. Sadness to follow.

There has always been a thread of the cinematic running through Hideo Kojimaâ€™s Metal Gear Solid series. Itâ€™s the first action game that got grabbed the film and video game elements and mixed it just right.

More than 10 years later, Kojima is finishing off the series with Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and itâ€™s going off with an epic bang. At Konamiâ€™s Gamers Night, Kojima showed off the latest trailer, replete with an awesome voice over by what sounds like Don LaFontaine and action sequences strung one after another, showing Snake battling mechs and beasties.

From the looks of it, the game is shaping up to be a heavyweight fight between Solid Snake and Liquid Ocelot.

One of the more interesting things that Hideo Kojima showed us when demoing the beginning of Metal Gear Solid 4 is that there some interesting brand names in the title.

One of them is an iPod. Yup, you heard right. When Solid Snake is out sneaking around and smacking down foes, he listens to his 30gig iPod and the killing music? It’s love songs. The device actually has a purpose in the game other than being decorative. By exploring the world, Snake kind find different tracks and download him to the iPod.